This is part three to the posts explaining what children really need. Click here for part 1 and here for part 2.

Each child has the right to a posterity.

“It is natural for each person to want to create progeny and to live into the future through them. This is each child’s destiny. Propaganda against the building of families is a direct assault on this destiny.”

Each child has the right to faith.

“Religious families better protect their children physically and psychologically when compared to families which reject religious faith.” Research shows that religious parents are more likely to use warmth and express emotional work with their children; and they are also more likely to protect their teens from premarital sex. For these reasons and more we should advocate to protect the freedom to exercise religion.

Families of the same religious faith tend to live near each other in the same neighborhoods. Neighborhoods centered around a religious community often promote the family unit as the cornerstone of a healthy and balanced society. For example, in one study, neighborhoods with a higher number of Christians had lower rates of divorce, abortion, and children born out of wedlock. Even the non-Christians living with a higher population of Christians were less likely to divorce, have an abortion, or have a child out of wedlock. Helping create good, protective neighborhoods, promotes healthy child development.

Each child has the right to innocence.

By innocence Carlson means “the opportunity to have a true childhood, the chance to mature normally in terms of physical, emotional, and moral development.” There are many threats to children’s innocence these days: war, child labor, media, and ideologically-driven education. The best way to protect children’s innocence is to have them live with their biological parents who are married to one another.

Each child has the right to a tradition.

Tradition ties the living to those who have passed on. It helps individuals remember the life lessons and sacrifice that their ancestors have gone through for them. It gives children emotional stability that helps them survive. Helping preserve traditions, especially during times of distress, helps families stick together and be able to rebuild their homes and families after the struggle has passed.

As individuals, families, communities, and governments choose to help more children receive these rights they divinely deserve, children will be better protected, have a better chance at reaching their optimal development, and be better able to improve their world and provide healthier environments for their own children.